Ephesians 6:10-24 This is.. in my opinion.. such an important passage for the follower of Jesus.  This is how God equips us to walk the walk of love.. to walk as children of light.. to become all that He desires for us to become in Christ.  

"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might." (v10).  We need to increase in spiritual power.. through the great and mighty dominion that is in Jesus Christ the Lord.  As Paul says elsewhere.. it is Christ in us.. the hope of glory!

To be strong in His strength takes diligence and effort.. "Put on the full armor of God".. Paul says.  It is a deliberate action that has consequences.  If we do it, Paul says, we will be able to "stand firm".  If we don't.. we will fall.. for the "schemes of the devil" will come against us.  We are in a spiritual battle.. "against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness.. "  This war is far too great for us to stand against on our own. We must have the "armor of God". 

This spiritual armor is everything we need.. provided by our Father...so that we can "stand firm".  Three times we are told this.. "Stand firm"!  It is an upright and active position. It is in opposition of the enemy. When we "gird" ourselves we are preparing for action.. we are ready to do something difficult or strenuous. We are surrounding ourselves with the equipment needed for the battle. 

"Therefore".. Paul writes, "take up the full armor of God..having girded your loins with the truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.. "  As believers in Jesus Christ and children of the heavenly Father...we have taken on these basic parts of the armor.  We have learned the truth.. of who God is.. who Jesus is.. and who we are in Him.  Enclose yourselves with this equipment.. secure it.. surround yourself with it!  Be filled with Truth! We are covered by His righteousness.  We stand on His peace.. provided by the One who paid the price for us. 

"In addition".. Paul writes, "taking up the shield of faith.. and take the helmet of salvation.. and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God."  These three items are what we need to grab on to daily.. faith to extinguish the fiery darts of the enemy.. the helmet that covers our heads.. and the sword, the Word, which is a powerful weapon against the enemy. 

But, even all of this equipment. is not enough unless we put it on and stand firm in it.. and Paul tells us how to do it.. "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.. " 

Prayer.. continual.. sincere.. earnest.. faithful.. intentional.. communion with our God.. 

Father in heaven,  may we learn to pray more.. to pray continually.. to be faithful in prayer.. to pray in our homes and in the church.. to pray for ourselves and to pray for each other. Teach us to pray and to persevere in prayer.  Open our eyes to see that without prayer we will fail.. we will fall.. we cannot stand firm.  Lead our churches and our families  to realize the necessity for prayer and have the desire to pray together so that we can "stand firm".  We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.